The Flame Will Never Die
by xxToadstool-Queenxx
Summary: Carla has discovered the truth behind the fire and is struggling to cope. Peter returns to the street following a family disaster. Although the it is only supposed to be flying visit, things take an unexpected turn. This is my first fic so reviews are greatly appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Carla sighed audibly and leant back in her chair as the babbling factory workers clocked out after a long day's work. As the door finally banged shut she closed her eyes, glad to be alone at last as Sally was off sick and Aliyah had gone to see Sinead an hour or so before, wanting her to make a new sample for her Bespoke basks range. She didn't feel like going home yet, it still felt weird going back there after the fire, but she knew there was little point in staying. She was tired and had had an extremely unproductive day, and that was unlikely to change even with her workforce gone. Carla would never admit it but her head was a mess and the lack of sleep was not doing anything to help her think straight. Ever since the fire, her sleep had been restless and was frequently interrupted by nightmares of old demons returning to haunt her. It was like the shock and the guilt had made a hole in the barriers she had built in her mind to protect herself from her past. Now the memories and the pain that came with them were oozing through the cracks, ready to pounce when she was at her most vulnerable. When she was sleeping. During the day she knew it wouldn't do to dwell on the past but after three months of not sleeping properly, Carla was constantly exhausted and irritable, and quite frankly she'd had enough.

She had been getting back on her feet. She'd been learning to cope with the guilt and get back to normal with the help of Roy, Michelle and Nick. If it hadn't been for them she suspected she would be stuck wallowing in a deep pit of guilt and self-pity, blaming herself and being unable to accept the fact that it had been an accident. She would have been able to cope with the fact that the Nazirs and the Websters and quite a lot of the remaining residents on the street hated her. At least on the surface, after all she was used to being unpopular, but on the inside she would have been broken, hating herself more than anyone else ever could. Yet she had managed to cope because they had picked her up and told her that it wasn't her fault and that people were hurting and just needed to come to terms with what had happened- either that or they were judgemental nosy parkers who weren't worth it. She had been alright until she had found out that it wasn't her mistake after all.

She had been so sure that she'd blown that candle out. Well, she was sure until she had been told that she had left the candle burning. She had been told it, and despite what the niggling voices at the back of mind were telling her, she had believed that the fire and all the suffering that had come with it was her fault. She had thought that could be the only possible explanation.

Except it wasn't.

There was another explanation. Tracy Barlow.

It had been a complete shock for Carla to find out that she hadn't actually started that fire. She had become used to the idea that she had caused it. Whether it was an accident or not had been heavily debated by anyone who thought they had the right to an opinion but it had definitely been her. So when she realised it was Tracy it had been a difficult concept to get her head round. At first she had thought that she was going mad, suspecting Tracy. Maybe it was because last time she had accused Tracy of doing something it had turned out to be her own brother. But something Tracy said hadn't made sense. She had been spreading rumours. Carla had assumed it had just been vengeful spite on her part but she had realised something wasn't right when she walked in on Tracy arguing with Michelle in the pub. Tracy had said "She was passed out on the sofa, an empty wine glass by her head, of course she was drunk". Carla had just walked straight through to the back after telling Michelle to leave it although she did appreciate her defending her. But it wasn't like anyone actually listened. She was just wasting her breath. At the time Carla didn't really think about what Tracy had said but for some reason it stayed in the back her mind and the more she thought about it, the more she realised it didn't make any sense. At first she had thought it was the fact that Tracy had known she had slept on the sofa but Carla supposed that Amy probably would have told her that she had been allowed to sleep in Carla's bed. It was the wine glass that got to her. How could Tracy have known about the wine glass? It could have been a lucky guess but somehow it seemed unlikely. Carla had told herself she was being stupid but eventually she had confronted Tracy. Tracy had denied it and Carla had decided to leave it but Ken saw through Tracy's lies. He had remembered what Tracy had been like on the night of the fire, something Carla hadn't seen, and he knew there was more to it. He never told Carla though, Simon got in there first.

Carla had been somewhat confused when a distressed Simon had turned up at her flat with tears streaming down his face, panting like he'd just run a mile. It had taken him a while to calm down but eventually he had told Carla what had upset him. He had been staying with Ken for the night and had been unable to sleep so he had gone downstairs to get some water but he had heard voices so had stayed at the top of the stairs and sat listening to Ken and Tracy's conversation. He had heard Tracy confess to going to the flat and lighting the candle. At that point he had wanted to leave but he was in shock after finding out his aunt had been responsible for the death of his mum's boyfriend. That was why he also heard Tracy tell Ken how she had almost killed Carla but had decided not to and left leaving the candle burning. At that point Simon had run away and gone to Carla.

When Simon had told Carla this they sat in silence for a very long time. Carla had been trying to process what she'd been told but whatever she had thought, she never thought Tracy would want her dead. It would have made saving her life a bit pointless if nothing else. The only silver lining was that Tracy hadn't actually killed her.

Thinking back to that night, Carla couldn't help but want to bury her head in the sand and never face another human being again. Unfortunately she knew the world didn't work like that but she figured that a girl could dream. She knew she should probably be grateful that no one blamed her anymore but she wasn't really sure what was worse: people blaming her, or the pity she got from everyone because she had been blamed for Tracy's mistake. She just wanted to get back to normal but the guilt still hadn't gone away. When she had Kal and Maddie's families pointing the blame at her, she had felt the weight of their grief, she had suffered from their pain and she had felt the full force of their anger. It didn't just go away. She could still feel their pain even though she knew it wasn't her fault anymore. In a way Tracy had had got off lightly. Even though everyone hated her for starting the fire and letting Carla take the blame, she only had to deal with the cold glares and resentment that was left in the place of the lost loved ones. Tracy had never had to see the raw wounds while they were still open and bleeding. That was what had scarred Carla and in a way she resented Tracy for not having to go through that.

Carla hated the fact that she still couldn't get any peace even though she knew she hadn't done anything. She hated the fact that the nightmares hadn't gone away. And now she wasn't sure how to make them stop. She had thought that without the guilt, they would go away but they hadn't and now she was scared. Last time she had had nightmares, Peter had made her feel safe. Now she had Nick but she still had nightmares. Nick cared about her and he would help her to forget what had happened but his security didn't seem to keep her safe when she was asleep. During the day she had him by her side but at night she always felt alone no matter how close he was. Maybe she had been broken too many times to be repaired.

Nick knew something was wrong, so did Roy, so did Michelle. But they didn't know what they could do about it. Michelle had tried to get her to talk but Carla had just tried to push her away and ended up crying on her shoulder for hours. It had been a relief to let the tears out and it was comforting to know that Michelle was there but it didn't change anything. Roy could offer support and he could offer wisdom. She trusted what he said and knew it was true when he told her that she had no guilt so she should move on and stop living in the past but for some reason she couldn't do it. It was as if she no longer had any control over how she felt and that was perhaps what scared Carla the most. Nick was very supportive of her and seemed very understanding but Carla knew he didn't understand. No one understood how she felt. Nick carried on trying to get her talk about how she was feeling but she didn't want to talk. How could she tell him how she was feeling when she didn't even know herself? She wished everyone would leave her alone but thinking that made her feel worse because she knew that they cared about her and just wanted what was best for her. She should have felt grateful but she just couldn't help it. Carla couldn't accept their help or be happy about it.

The truth was that even with people around her, she had never felt so alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Rain lashed against the cab window as Peter stared at the other cars on the motorway which were also battling their way through the pouring rain. Lightening flashed across the sky shortly followed by a low rumble of thunder which jolted Peter from his trance. He rested his head against the window and his eyes were heavy with exhaustion. Peter was sure that in most other situations he would have easily fallen asleep for hours but not now. All he could do was will the cab journey to be over, count the seconds until he could see his son, hope that he wouldn't get there too late.

It was strange how one short phone call could turn Peter's world upside-down, he had had shocks before, he had received bad news before, but Peter had never been so scared in his life.

Peter thought about how happy he had been earlier that day. It had just been a normal day, a morning run, working in his mate's bookies, paying Jo a visit in the pub after work. He had been having a lovely time with Jo, they weren't together by any stretch of the imagination but she was a laugh and it was blatantly obvious that she fancied him. He hadn't led her on or anything but he hadn't exactly pushed her away either. He wasn't after a relationship, especially after what had happened last time he was with a barmaid, but he figured a bit of flirting wasn't doing anyone any harm. When he thought about it, he did really like Jo but even thinking that made him feel guilty, it made him feel like a coward because he knew that he'd had another life before moving to Portsmouth and it felt like he was betraying the memories of his life on Coronation Street by even contemplating moving on. He still hadn't forgiven himself for everything he had done to Carla and the way he had left Simon but he knew leaving had been the only thing he could have done. He knew it was stupid but he still hadn't finished burying all of the lingering emotions from his old life and while his old wounds were still healing, he couldn't have a completely fresh start.

Slowly but surely Peter had been recovering, he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since leaving Weatherfield and although he hadn't managed to quit smoking, he had become a lot healthier and had never felt happier about his physical well-being.

But none of that mattered to Peter anymore. Within the space of a few minutes all of the memories Peter had worked so hard to put behind him were cruelly pulled to the surface. Suddenly everything Peter had done had been pulled into a sharp focus and all of his wrong doings were crystal clear as if they had all taken place yesterday. All of his hardest struggles with alcoholism, everything he had done to Carla, losing their baby, every time he had fallen off the wagon and let Simon down; each memory was playing itself on repeat in Peter's mind, reminding him again and again of what he had done, creating a whirlpool of his darkest moments crashing around inside his head. It was as if someone was shining a harsh light into his eyes, and it was gradually boring into him casting a light on everything he wanted to forget. He knew he couldn't forget but he could at least put all these things behind him and move on. Now it had all come back and there was nowhere for him to hide.

Returning to Weatherfield was a daunting for Peter for a number of reasons. First there was the judgement he would have to face from people who thought he should never have left. And there were still people who thought he was at least partially responsible for Tina's death. He didn't really care what most people thought but having all of his decisions questioned by a load of nosy parkers who didn't know the full story wasn't exactly an idea that filled Peter with joy.

Then there was Carla. He wanted to see her, find out how she was but he wasn't entirely convinced she would want to see him. He doubted that she had forgiven him, he hadn't even forgiven himself but what he was more worried about was her hating his guts. He hoped she didn't hate him but in a way he wouldn't blame her if she did but he hoped that she had started to resent him less over time instead of festering on his betrayal and coming to loath him more with every day that passed. Peter knew which scenario he was hoping for but he wasn't sure how she would react to seeing him after being separate for so long. He genuinely hoped that she was happy and the wounds she had got from the events of the previous year weren't still raw but had started to heal. He hoped that she wasn't still hurting, the thought of Carla in pain saddened Peter because it made him think of all the pain he had caused her and how much he regretted it all. All he wanted was to see her and see that she was getting on okay, all things considered. He wasn't going to ask for more than that.

Peter also needed to talk to Ken and Tracy, he wasn't sure what was going on but for the last month or so he had been suspicious that they were hiding something. He just got the impression that they weren't telling the whole story about the fire. They hadn't told him that much considering the amount of questions he asked, just that it had been started by a lighted candle, Amy and Carla were fine, Leanne and Kal had gone in to rescue Amy, and that Kal and Maddie had died. It was weird; they both just seemed to avoid talking about the subject further, especially when he had tried to ask more about the cause. He didn't know what they were hiding but he wanted to find out once he had gotten more pressing matters out of the way.

Then there was the reason he had to return to Weatherfield in the first place. It made his blood run cold just thinking about it but he had to go, he had to be there. He had to see Simon. He couldn't bear the thought of Simon being hurt so it was incredibly hard for Peter to come to terms with the fact that Simon was lying on a hospital bed fighting for his life. Peter knew he just had to cling onto the hope that Simon would pull through.

Simon and Leanne had been in a serious car accident and they had both been rushed to hospital and were in intensive care. No one really knew what had happened, Simon and Leanne hadn't been able to tell anyone and the other driver had died immediately. All that anyone could see was the aftermath, Leanne's car almost completely on one side as it was wedged between two trees and the other car overturned across Leanne's bonnet and part of the front through the windscreen. Peter felt sick with worry about what could happen to Simon and he was also worried about Leanne. They didn't exactly get on but she meant the world to Simon so he still cared about her a lot. He didn't want any harm to come to either of them but he knew that might not be the case.

As soon as Ken had phoned him to let him know what had happened, Peter had packed a bag and got in a cab to get to Manchester as quickly as possible. He hadn't had time to think about what had happened but four hours and several traffic jams later, Peter was still stuck in a stuffy cab and had had plenty of time to think about what had happened.

Peter hated the fact that he couldn't be with Simon. He knew it wasn't his fault but he wanted to be at the hospital now, not in a few hours' time. After all, a lot could happen in a few hours. He knew he would be the first to hear about any change in his son's wellbeing but he wanted to be there. Ken had told him the doctors were doing everything they could and that all he could do was get there as soon as he could but for Peter it wasn't anywhere near soon enough. He hated being stuck inside a cab instead of being by his son's side. He hated feeling so helpless but there was nothing he could do. He just had to sit tight and wait while Simon's life was hanging in the balance. A million and one thoughts hurtled around in Peter's mind. Hundreds of what ifs floated before his eyes. What if Simon was disabled for life because of the accident? What if Simon did wake up but hated him for not being a good enough dad? What if Simon never woke up and he never got to tell him how much he loves him one last time? Peter knew there was no point in speculating but there wasn't anything else to do. He had no distractions and a lot of time to kill so he couldn't keep the worries at bay.

He couldn't keep the fear away either. That cold ache, pulling at his heartstrings. It kept on creeping into his mind, each second getting darker and darker. He couldn't pretend he wasn't scared, not when the fear was literally consuming every essence of his being. All he could do was keep focussing on the hope that Simon would be okay but every so often, the flame of hope would flicker and die, leaving behind the extremely real possibility that Simon could be disabled for life, or worse. Then Peter would get lost in the darkness until the flame was reignited and he realised that things could just as easily be fine. The uncertainty was killing Peter inside though. He didn't know if Simon was going to live or die, he didn't know if he'd ever hear his son's voice again or get the chance to make it up to him for all the pain he had caused. Peter hated the not knowing, but he had no way of finding out the future. And that was the thing that scared him the most.


	3. Chapter 3

Carla sat back in her chair and sighed for the second time that evening, finally able to breathe after a particularly stressful couple of hours. She had had Hanlen bending her ear about the new order and she was questioning for what felt like the hundredth time why she had agreed to do business with that man again. Why he couldn't have organised a meeting like any normal person was beyond her. Instead he decided he was going to phone her and harass her every ten minutes with yet another demand or trivial detail that he needed to go over, and quite frankly she'd had enough. He definitely had to be up there with the most infuriating people she had ever met and she was seriously regretting not just ignoring the phone the first time it had gone off.

Although he drove her up the wall to the point of almost wanting to throttle him, she was glad of the distraction. When she was snowed under by the demands of fussy clients she could escape, just for a few moments. Then she wouldn't have to think about everything that had gone wrong. She wouldn't be haunted by Kal and Maddie. But as soon as the distraction went away she was left to her thoughts again.

When Hanlen had first called, Carla had been annoyed because he had interrupted her thoughts. He had cut short her trip down memory lane which for once had actually been making her feel quite peaceful. She knew it wouldn't have lasted though. It would have turned sour, like a beautiful butterfly with broken wings. So really, it was a good thing Hanlen called when he did. Carla knew better than anyone how easy it was to get trapped down memory lane and start living in the past. Or worse she could get lost somewhere in the depths of her mind, and if she was being honest, her mind was a pretty depressing place to get lost in these days.

Carla was also glad of the excuse to stay at work for as long as possible just to avoid going home. Not that it felt like home anymore. It was just a strange flat that seemed to be a shadow of her old home. It didn't feel like home, it felt new and untouched. It didn't smell of home either, it just smelt clean, but not clean enough to hide the still lingering smell of smoke. She knew it couldn't actually still smell of smoke, it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but to Carla it seemed real.

She knew she had to go home at some point though; she couldn't stay at the factory forever. Carla pushed back her chair, picked up her bag and walked out of her office, pleasantly surprised that she'd lasted that long after work before hitting the bottle. As she walked towards the main door, Carla silently wondered what her world was coming to. She was scared of returning to her own home even though nothing had happened there yet. It was a clean slate, no memories of her failed relationships; she didn't see heartbreak everywhere she turned. And it felt different to the home that Tracy had set fire to, yet she was already terrified of it just because she knew she was going to be alone. To be honest, she didn't really want any company either so either way she couldn't win. That had become the story of Carla's life: she was constantly fighting a losing battle.

As Carla was about to leave the factory, a cab drove down the cobbles and slowed to a stop outside Number 1. Carla saw it and didn't think anything of it until she saw who was getting out of it. She couldn't see much from the dim glow of the street lights but she would have recognised him anywhere.

Peter.

Carla froze in the doorway and watched as he knocked on the door. What the hell was he doing back? Feeling slightly dazed from the shock of seeing him again, she took a step back so she was hidden in the darkness of the factory and she watched in silence as he knocked on the door.

Peter knocked for a second time getting slightly impatient. He had only come to drop some of his stuff off before heading to the hospital and he didn't want to waste any more time. He knew Tracy was in but she was taking an extremely long time to get to the door for whatever reason so he thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket and rotated slowly on the spot, looking around at the familiar buildings he hadn't seen in so long. He smiled to himself as he breathed in the cool evening air. For once the weather was better in Manchester than it was down south so the sky was clear, contrary to the cloudy skies of Portsmouth and he could see some stars in the sky although the streetlights blocked most of them out. Peter felt peaceful, the dread of returning washing away in his few sacred seconds of alone time. His face broke into a broad grin as the door of the rovers swung open as couple of people walked out across the street and into the night. A wave of heat and noise rushed into the September evening and Peter heard the general babble of a Friday night at the pub, everyone winding down after a long week at work. Some things never change, Peter thought to himself. As the door swung shut again the peaceful quiet of the street at night returned. It was good to be home.

Peter stole a glance towards the factory and stopped to stare at it. He had meant it just to be a passing look before continuing to reminisce about the other buildings on the street. He didn't particularly want to get caught up on the factory; it held too many memories, too much pain. But Peter stopped because he could have sworn he saw something, or more likely someone, dart into the shadows of the open doorway. He couldn't be sure but the more he thought, the more he was convinced that someone had slipped out of his sight just before he could see them. It made Peter feel slightly uneasy, like he was being watched. He thought he was just being silly, imagining things after his long car journey but even so, he decided he would knock again.

This time the door swung open and Tracy appeared.

"About flaming time, I've been waiting for ages for you to open the door" Peter grumbled, frowning at her.

"Hello to you too" Tracy replied sarcastically.

"Sorry, I'm just worried about Si" Peter said, looking at his feet "What took you so long anyway?"

"I was on the bog, I didn't hear the door" Tracy protested.

"Oh right" Peter said quietly, looking down again.

There was an awkward moment of silence and Tracy saw how much Simon's accident had taken its toll on her brother. Worry was etched across his face and his eyes were weary from travelling in such a rush to get to Simon as soon as he could.

Peter looked up and Tracy gave him a small sympathetic smile.

"Come ere" she said, holding out her arms.

He welcomed the hug and he sighed into her shoulder feeling comforted to know his sister cared. She could be surprisingly considerate when the need arose. He sighed again and stood up straight, returning Tracy's smile.

"Want a brew?" she asked standing aside so he could walk in.

"No I only came to drop me stuff off before going to the hospital." Peter said.

"Oh okay" Tracy replied. She walked past him to where the bags sat by the car and she took them inside the house. She turned to face him once she'd dropped them in the hallway. "See ya later then. I'll come up to the hospital tomorrow once I've dropped Amy next door"

"Thanks Trace" Peter said and turned to get in the cab.

Carla had assumed that the coast was clear when she heard the cab door shut but she didn't realise how wrong she was until it was too late. She hadn't been able to hear Tracy and Peter talking, and she could no longer see them as she had gone into hiding when Peter had turned around so she listened with bated breath for the sound of the cab driving away. Then she knew Peter would have gone. She didn't really know why she was avoiding him. She just didn't want to see him yet. She thought she would have had some warning when he came back. She had known he would have to come back at some point, his family were in Weatherfield. It was just such a shock to see him again after all this time. In an ideal world she would have had time to prepare, to psych herself up for the inevitable tidal wave of emotions that would come with seeing her ex-lover again. Now all she felt was shock.

There must be a reason why he was back; he wouldn't just show up for no reason. But Carla could not for the life of her figure out what the reason was. She had spoken to Simon just a few days ago and he hadn't mentioned it so it was either a surprise or something had happened. It was unlikely to be a surprise, Simon had been so unpredictable since the fire so surely Ken would have realised that a surprise visit from Peter wouldn't be very wise at the moment. That meant something has happened, and as much as Carla wanted to know what it was, she was feeling too overwhelmed to think about it properly so as soon as she heard the cab door slam she rushed out onto the street assuming Peter would be gone.

Carla hurried across the cobbles not noticing the car coming towards her until it screeched to a halt. Startled, she looked up and her heart sank as she saw that Peter was sat in the back of the cab. As quickly as she had looked up, she looked away and continued walking at a quickened pace, keeping her head down. She knew there was absolutely no chance he hadn't seen her but it was dark inside the cab so there was a chance he still thought that she hadn't seen him. She kept walking, deciding that would work as an excuse as to why she didn't stop and talk to him, not that she should have needed one. If she didn't want to talk to Peter Barlow she didn't have to. She made her way to the pub. She knew it would be heaving on a Friday night but she desperately needed to talk to Michelle. She hadn't felt the urge to talk to anyone in so long; she had preferred to retreat into her shell and bottle things up. But now all she needed was someone to talk to and make sense of how she was feeling so she continued, needing to get to Michelle and talk before she chickened out and went to drown her sorrows.

Peter looked up with a jolt as the cab driver slammed on his breaks. The driver grunted an apology but Peter wasn't paying attention. The only person he was paying attention to was Carla. By the time he looked up, Carla was looking away and had continued crossing the road. Peter hadn't managed to see her face which was a shame for him. He hadn't seen her face in such a long time. He still had photographs which he looked at sometimes but it wasn't the same as seeing her in real life. As his cab pulled away from Coronation Street Peter looked round, straining to still see Carla as she walked away. He wasn't entirely sure if she'd seen him or not. In a way he hoped she hadn't because he didn't want her to freak out and start avoiding him. At some point they would need to talk to each other properly. Too much had been left unsaid. But at that moment, Carla was the least of his problems. He had to go and see Simon.


	4. Chapter 4

Carla put her hand on the door and took a deep breath. Part of her wanted to look down the street to where Peter's cab was pulling round the corner but she knew that if they made eye contact that she would regret it. At that moment in time Carla really couldn't deal with all of the emotions that would come with looking into those eyes again.

Slowly, Carla opened the door and went inside. She didn't know why she felt so nervous. It was just the Rovers. It wasn't like a bomb was going to go off when she went inside… although it felt like that to Carla. It felt like the world was going to end as soon as she went in; it had been ages since she had been inside. She preferred her own company nowadays. And now here she was going in to _talk._ It felt like an alien concept to Carla but if she didn't bite the bullet ow then she never would.

Carla almost breathed a sigh of relief when she walked in. The world didn't stop turning, no one died, everyone just kept going as normal. For once no one stared at her either. But instead of standing and taking ten deep breaths to stop her bolting like a spooked horse which was what she felt like doing, she strode over to the bar where Michelle and Sean stood serving punters their drinks. Now she was in public she had to keep up her dented façade. A considerable number of people had now seen with her guard down and knew how much she was struggling so part of Carla wondered what the point was. What was the point in putting on a front if no one believed it? But the more Carla put on a front, the more those people would believe that she was okay, even though on the inside, she was nowhere near being okay. The more people believed she had recovered; the less Carla had to worry about what other people thought of her because her reputation sorted that out for her. Maintaining her 'Queen Bitch' persona was the only thing that stopped Carla from legging it as far as possible but she couldn't bring herself to become the subject of people's pity yet again. Carla was done with people feeling sorry for her so she walked over to the bar catching Michelle's eye as she did so.

Contrary to everyone else in the pub, Michelle's jaw visibly dropped at the sight of her best mate walking towards her. Michelle hadn't meant to make it so obvious that she was shocked to see Carla in the pub but it had been a while. Michelle saw Carla falter slightly upon seeing her so she quickly rearranged her shocked expression into a warm smile.

"It's been a while since we've seen you in here" Michelle said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well here I am…" Carla trailed off , clearly not sharing her friend's enthusiasm.

Michelle wasn't fazed by this; she knew Carla was struggling but she figured that if she kept being up-beat, Carla might cheer up a bit. "What can I get ya?" Michelle asked.

"Actually 'Chelle, I was wondering if I could have a quick chat" Carla asked quietly, not wanting to attract the attention of Sally and Tim who weren't stood far away.

"Yeah, is everything okay?" Michelle asked, now starting to get worried about Carla.

"Not really, no" Carla replied looking down.

"Oh right, well go through to the back I'll come through in a few minutes" Michelle said, looking concerned

"Thanks 'Chelle" Carla said with a small smile before walking behind the bar.

"Carla can you send Liz through, I can't leave Sean all on his own" Michelle called after her.

"Course" Carla said quietly nodding back at Michelle.

"Hey you" Michelle said gently taking Carla's nearest hand, "thank you for coming to talk to me, I hate the thought of you worrying about something all on your own"

Carla sighed quietly and the corners of her mouth rose slightly into an almost-smile, then she walked through to the back room of the Rovers.

* * *

About 15 minutes later Carla was still sitting on the sofa, waiting for Michelle. She kept fidgeting nervously, unable to sit still. She felt so unsettled and on-edge. She hated talking about how she was feeling so it made absolutely no sense that she was going to voluntarily participate in what was bound to be an extremely lengthy chat about the ins and outs of her brain.

Carla looked up at the door, waiting for Michelle to walk though. The longer she sat there waiting, the more she was regretting not just going straight home. She didn't need to talk, did she? Carla knew she did but maybe tonight just wasn't the night for a cosy chat. Michelle was busy anyway, Carla reasoned, so really she would be doing Michelle a favour if she just went home.

Carla decided she'd had enough of waiting so she got up, picked up her bag and made her way to the door. She planned to just go through, apologise to Michelle and assure her everything was fine even though Michelle wouldn't believe a word of it, and then go to sit on her own sofa with a nice glass of red.

"Er, where do you think you're going" Michelle demanded when Carla walked straight into her on her way through to the bar. Carla just looked down, not wanting to look into Michelle's eyes.

"I was just…"

"Doing a runner" Michelle cut Carla off.

"No I were just " Carla started but she sighed when she looked at Michelle's raised eyebrows and obstinate expression that told her that she wasn't going to be going home without speaking to her first.

"Come on I'll get you a drink" Michelle said, steering Carla back through to the back room.

"Thanks 'Chelle" Carla said and she smiled. It was a weak smile, but it was a smile none the less.

Michelle smiled back. It had been so long since she'd seen Carla smile and she fully intended to make the most of it.

"Are you getting me that drink then or what?" Carla joked, sounding more like her old self.

"Oh yeah, sorry" Michelle apologised. She hadn't even realised she had stood there looking at Carla for so long, it had just been nice to see her best friend smile again after so much heartache.

Michelle poured two glasses of wine and carried them over to the sofa where Carla was now sat and handed her the glass.

"There ya'are" Michelle said with another smile.

"Thanks" Carla said softly. She didn't return Michelle's smile this time. Instead she just took a sip of the wine. Her mind was wondering back to Peter and that confusion and shock she had felt upon seeing him again was returning.

The distant look in Carla's eyes didn't go unnoticed by Michelle. She placed her hand on Carla's and looked into her eyes with a look of pure concern. "What's up?" she asked. She knew Carla would find it hard to tell her but Michelle knew that she had to ask. She had to show Carla that she cared.

At Michelle's question, Carla panicked. She couldn't do this, not now. Not ever.

Carla quickly put her drink down and stood up, not meeting Michelle's gaze.

"You know what 'Chelle, it can wait" Carla said quickly and made to walk away.

"Carla, please."

Carla stopped. She bit her lip and scrunched up her eyes, willing herself to keep it together. She felt like breaking down and crying all of the tears that she had bottled up inside herself from the past few months. But she couldn't. She couldn't show Michelle how lost she was, she couldn't admit how much she was struggling because then Michelle would want to help her. And Carla knew she would have to accept that help. It had been so long since she had let anyone help her. Her barriers were now so tight that she wouldn't even let Michelle in. Michelle didn't need to see how broken she was, it would only cause her more pain.

Carla felt Michelle's hand in hers. Carla closed her eyes again at her touch. It was as if she could feel Michelle's love for her passing through Michelle's hand and into her own. It was almost alien to Carla to feel the touch of someone who cares about her. Michelle was family. She was the closest thing to a sister Carla had ever had and she loved Michelle just as much as Michelle loved her. But that didn't make it any easier for her to open up and talk about how low she was feeling. She knew she had to though. She had to be brave.

"Please" Michelle whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.

Carla took a deep, shuddering breath. Michelle was practically begging her to stay and talk. Carla couldn't leave her; she couldn't hurt Michelle by walking away.

Carla slowly turned around and looked into Michelle's eyes. A tear slowly ran down Carla's cheek. Michelle saw the broken woman that Carla had become and felt like crying herself. She wanted to cry because of the sadness she felt at seeing her best friend in such a bad place. But she knew she couldn't cry; she had to stay strong for Carla's sake.

"Come 'ere" Michelle said, opening her arms.

Carla fell into Michelle's embrace and before she knew it she was sobbing into her friend's chest, unable to stop.

"It's okay darlin'" Michelle whispered, holding Carla tightly and rocking gently back and forth. She placed a soft kiss into Carla's hair, desperately fighting to stop her own tears from falling. "Everything's going to be okay".


	5. Chapter 5

Peter rushed down the hospital corridor desperate to find Simon. Finally, he saw his dad and Deirdre sat on two plastic chairs at the end of another corridor. He broke into a run, needing to get to Simon as quickly as possible. Upon hearing Peter's heavy footfalls, Ken and Deirdre both looked up and stood up to greet him.

"Peter!" Ken exclaimed. He was glad to see his son despite the tragic circumstances.

"Dad" Peter said and pulled him into a tight hug.

Peter pulled away from Ken and looked through the window expecting to see Simon but the bed inside the room was empty.

"Where's Simon?" Peter asked, moving to look through the window across the hall.

"The doctor's had to take him into theatre to have an operation. Ideally they would have had to have you or Leanne sign the forms but that was unfeasible so I did it instead" Ken explained "They couldn't wait, it needed to be done straight away or the chances of him waking up would have been very slim and if he had he would have had severe brain damage."

"And you're only telling me this now?" Peter said in a raised voice, his confusion quickly turning to anger.

"We didn't want to worry you until you got here" Ken said, eager to pacify his son's anger.

"Did you not think I would want to know that my son needed to urgently have a life-saving operation?" Peter shouted. The worry and stress was really getting too much.

"Shouting at your dad isn't going to help anyone" Deirdre reasoned "There was nothing you could do while sat in a cab half-way across the country. If we'd have told you at the time, it would have only made the journey worse for you."

Peter sighed, realising Deirdre was right. "I'm sorry" he said, calmer now.

"It's okay" Ken said and rubbed his son's should comfortingly, "I know how worried you are about Simon."

Deirdre picked up another chair and brought it for Peter to sit on.

"So, why did they need to operate?" Peter asked, dreading the reply but needing to know.

"The doctor's didn't tell us much; the only reasons they gave are the ones we've given you" Deirdre said, knowing Peter would be far from satisfied with this response.

"Oh great" Peter exclaimed sarcastically "so we know practically nothing. Flaming useless!" he hit the edge of his chair, unable to stop himself getting worked up.

"The doctor's will come back and explain everything" Ken tried to calm Peter down "The main thing is they make Simon better."

"But what if he doesn't get better?" Peter said his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"He will be Peter" Ken reassured him.

"We don't know that" Peter said

"Peter you can't think like this" Deirdre said. "Simon is in the best possible place and he will pull through"

At that moment Zeedan walked through the doubled doors a little way off.

"Is Simon back yet?" Zeedan asked as soon as he reached them.

Peter looked up, slightly shocked and extremely peeved that a boy he'd never actually met properly seemed to know more about his son's well-being than he did. "No offence but what are you even doing here?" Peter snapped, too stressed to realise that Zeedan just cared about Simon.

"Peter!" Deirdre said, shocked at his rudeness.

"Leanne was gonna be my step-mum. Me and Alya came with her but I care about Simon as well" Zeedan said defensively.

"Peter, Zeedan has been a good friend to Simon" Ken said, knowing intervention was needed to prevent a full on fight taking place.

"Sorry" Peter mumbled, looking at the floor. He felt bad for snapping but he wasn't in an apologetic mood.

"It's alright" Zeedan replied slightly reluctantly. Under normal circumstances he probably wouldn't have left it there but the guy's son was in intensive care so Zeedan figured he should probably cut him a bit of slack.

"No we haven't heard anything yet" Ken said, breaking the awkward silence "but we'll let you know when Simon's back from his operation"

"Thanks" Zeedan said

"How's Leanne doing?" Deirdre asked.

Peter looked up at this point. Until that point he had almost forgotten Leanne had been in the crash as well. His main priority was Simon but Leanne was Simon's mum and he did still care about her.

"Well the doctor said her head injury shouldn't have caused any lasting damage so we just have to wait for her to wake up." Zeedan said, feeling slightly guilty that his news was much better than the Barlow's.

"That's a relief" Peter said.

Zeedan looked suspiciously at Peter, unsure whether Peter was being sarcastic.

"I'm serious mate" Peter said "I'm glad Lee's going to pull through".

"Yeah" Zeedan relied "her arm's seriously mangled through, at the moment it's too swollen for the doctors to do anything but clean it up but they recon it's broken in at least three places and that the elbow is dislocated"

"Oh my God" Peter said, still having not quite got his head around the severity of the crash.

"I know it's not life threatening but if they can't operate and put it back together I dunno what's gonna happen" Zeedan said worriedly "she might never be able to use it again".

"I'm sure she'll pull through" Peter tried to reassure him, "Leanne's a fighter, she'll be okay".

"Yeah" Zeedan said, clearly unconvinced.

Ken, Deirdre, Peter and Zeedan all looked up as a doctor walked through the double doors at the opposite end of the corridor. Peter, Ken and Deirdre all stood up expectantly, desperate for news on Simon.

"Have you got any news on Simon?" Peter asked anxiously.

"Are you Mr Barlow?" the doctor asked, knowing that the family had been expecting him.

"Yeah I'm Si's dad" Peter said, wanting to cut to the chase.

"Your son was suffering from a severe head trauma and the internal bleeding was putting an extremely large amount of pressure on the brain. Under normal circumstances, a parent's consent is required for a minor to have an operation but if we had waited to operate, it would have been very unlikely that Simon would have survived and even if he had, it would have been highly probable that Simon would have been brain damaged for the rest of his life" the doctor explained.

"Yeah but how is he now?" Peter asked. He was grateful that the doctor wasn't just fobbing him off but he needed to know that Simon would be okay. Any alternatives didn't bare thinking about.

"Fortunately the operation has been a success. Simon is being brought back up as we speak but he still has a long road ahead of him" the doctor replied. He was glad to be the bearer of good news but he had to make them aware that there was no magic potion that would make Simon recover, it was going to be hard.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the four listeners as he doctor broke the news. They were so relieved that Simon would be transported back to the hospital room alive. There was still hope for him and they had to cling onto that hope.

"If you would like to follow me, Simon is going to be put in a different room when he returns from theatre" the doctor continued.

He walked through to the corridor where Leanne was and gestured to three chairs outside the room next to Leanne's before going in to check on Leanne.

* * *

Carla was lying with her head rested on Michelle's lap, exhausted from all the crying. They had been sat in silence for a long time, neither of them wanting to speak, neither of them knowing what to say.

Michelle gently stroked Carla's hair, feeling at a complete loss as to what to do. She had known Carla was feeling low but she had had no idea how bad she had been feeling. She desperately wanted to help Carla but she didn't know where to start. Michelle knew the only way she could help Carla was if Carla talked to her but she knew Carla wouldn't want to talk, she never did, but Michelle knew she had no choice but to get Carla to open up. Carla couldn't continue like this. Michelle couldn't let Carla continue like this. It had broken Michelle's heart to see Carla so distraught so Michelle knew she had to try a put Carla back together again.

Carla sighed softly, feeling comforted by Michelle's touch. It was a relief to let out all of the tears that she had been bottling up for the last few months. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders after finally not have to hold herself together and finally being able to share her despair with someone else. She felt almost relaxed for the first time since the fire because for once, she didn't feel like she was alone.

Although the burden she had been carrying had been lifted, she still didn't feel completely free. In the place of her burden was a sickening dread in the pit of her stomach. Now that she had cried all of her tears to Michelle, Michelle knew how she was feeling.

That scared Carla. If Michelle knew how she was feeling, she would never be able to hide behind a front with her. She would have to confide in Michelle even though she hadn't confided in anyone in so long. Her barriers had been well and truly swept away revealing how scared Carla was. Now she felt vulnerable. Without her mask she was exposed.

"Carla" Michelle whispered. The silence was broken.

Carla looked up at Michelle "Yeah" she responded, still whispering.

"I wasn't sure if you'd fallen asleep" Michelle said hesitantly, unsure of how best to get Carla to talk.

Carla gave Michelle a small smile and sat up so they were next to each other on the sofa.

They fell silent again, both knowing what needed to be said, neither of them wanting to say it.

"I bet I look a right state" Carla said, almost joking but not quite. She wiped her eyes for the first time since she had started crying. Her eyes were still dry but she felt like she could easily become overwhelmed with emotion again and cry for another hour.

"Carla" Michelle said again, amused by her friends determination to avoid the problem but equally determined herself to get Carla to face to up to the friend.

"What?" Carla snapped. She knew Michelle wanted to talk about her feelings and even now she still felt her guard coming up.

Carla met Michelle's gaze which was full of concern and sighed in defeat. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

"Look 'Chelle" Carla started but then she stopped. She didn't really know what to say next. She wanted to make some sort of excuse, say she had just been caught at a bad moment, but she knew that wasn't going to cut it. However hard she tried to gloss over her emotions, Michelle now knew the extent of her nightmare and would know what she was trying to do. Carla always tried to down-dress the situation so she could hide from how bad it was but now that wasn't going to work. Everything had finally become real.

"Carla, talk to me" Michelle gently prompted, resting her hand on Carla's knee.

"I don't know what to say". Carla's voice was shaking and barely above a whisper. She looked up at Michelle and her eyes filled with tears.

Michelle could see how lost Carla was and just how scared she felt and I broke her heart. She put an arm around Carla's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Why don't I make us a brew?" Michelle offered, hoping this would give Carla time to compose her thoughts into something she was prepared to talk about.

Carla sniffed and wiped her eyes, then took a deep breath before looking at Michelle and smiled gratefully.

"Yeah that'd be great, ta".

Michelle returned a few minutes later carrying two steaming cups of tea. Carla didn't say anything but Michelle knew she was grateful.

"So, what's up?" Michelle asked, wanting it to sound like a normal question, rather than an invitation for Carla to pour out her soul because she knew that would freak Carla out.

"What's not up?" Carla replied with a heavy sigh. She almost expected Michelle to say something but she stayed quiet so Carla hesitantly continued. "It's nothing, exactly. Oh I don't know 'Chelle, it's hard to explain"

"Try me" Michelle said knowingly. There was no way she was letting Carla get away with that for an answer. After the state she'd got herself into in the past half hour, 'I don't know' wasn't really going to cut it.

"It's just, well, ever since the fire, things have been really getting on top of me. You know, everything that's happened, all the times I've screwed up. I've just been letting things get to me that's all." Carla stopped. She knew that wasn't the full story. She knew this was much more than letting things get to her but she didn't want to admit how vulnerable shed become.

"Carla, the fire wasn't your fault" Michelle reminded her.

"I know it's just-"

"No Carla, listen to me" Michelle interrupted her. "Tracy was the one that started the fire, not you. If anyone is responsible for Kal and Maddie's deaths, she is. You are not to blame"

"That's not it" Carla said. "It's not the guilt... I guess it just brought back a lot of memories" Carla trailed off.

"Of Tony?" Michelle asked, her surprise evident in her voice. She hadn't known what was wrong with Carla but she certainly hadn't been expecting her friend's initiation of self-destruct mode to be down to Tony Gordon.

"No not Tony, well, sort of Tony" Carla struggled to explain "It's not him as such, I got over the factory fire ages ago"

"Then what?" Michelle asked. If she hasn't been confused before, she definitely was now.

"It's the memories. They keep coming back, I keep reliving them. It's like the fire triggered something in my brain and now I can't stop thinking about everything that happened" Carla said. She wasn't entirely sure what she was saying, everything was just gushing out of her mouth in a blur.

"Carla, you didn't need to get yourself into such a state about the fire" Michelle replied.

"It's not just the fire" Carla said "it's not just Tony. It's everything"

"Everything?" Michelle questioned.

"Just everything that's happened" Carla replied "Tony, Frank, Paul, Liam" her voice getting quieter as she spoke.

"But how has this all come from the fire" Michelle asked gently, knowing how difficult it was for Carla to re-live the past.

"When the fire happened. When I woke up to find meself surrounded by flames, I was so scared" Carla's voice was hardly louder than a whisper and she couldn't look Michelle in the eye so she stared down into the cup of tea. "I wasn't just scared for me, I were scared for Amy as well and it were horrible. And I couldn't do anything, I could hardly move and we were trapped. I were supposed to be looking after her and then we both nearly burnt to death. I do feel guilty about that I s'pose. I feel guilty about what might've happened. But it's that feeling of helplessness that got to me, ya know? I were trapped, I were helpless and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And the way I felt, it were... It were like" Carla stopped, not wanting to say it had reminded her of what she felt like when Frank raped her.

"Oh Carla" Michelle whispered, absolutely horrified.

She rested her hand on Carla's knee which Carla had brought up to her chest. Carla looked almost like a frightened child. She was curled up into a ball, still holding the cup of tea which she had not stopped staring at since she had started talking. It broke Michelle's heart to see Carla looking so fragile.

"Has it brought back what he did to you?" Michelle asked cautiously, not knowing if it was a good idea to say Frank's name when Carla was feeling like this.

Carla nodded slowly.

"Have the nightmares come back?" Michelle asked.

Carla nodded again.

"Carla, you can't let him do this to you again" Michelle said softly "Frank's gone, he can't ever hurt you again"

Carla looked up into Michelle's eyes and Michelle was frightened to see that there was nothing in Carla's eyes. No emotion, no nothing.

"Carla, you can get through this. You can't let Frank-"

"It's not Frank" Carla interrupted, her voice stronger, more abrupt.

"But you just said" Michelle tailed off, completely lost. Then again with Carla feeling so lost herself it was never going to be straightforward.

"I know I said it's Frank but he's not the only thing. It's not just Frank, it's not just Tony, it's all of them" Carla said, not looking down anymore, but not looking at Michelle either.

"But how come Liam and Paul are making you feel like this? You were happy with them" Michelle desperately hoped that it wasn't her brothers making Carla feel like this. She had always thought that Carla looked back on her times with Paul and Liam with happiness, or at least most of those times anyway. Michelle knew that is she found that Carla didn't feel that way, it would change the memories she had of her brothers forever.

"I was" Carla replied in a small voice.

Michelle breathed a silent sigh of relief, then realised how sad Carla looked.

"Then what is it? Michelle asked.

Carla took a deep breath and continued, "When Kal and Maddie died, I saw their families grieving. And every time I see Sophie, every time I see Leanne or Alya or the rest of her family, it reminds me of that grief. It reminds me of how angry they were and how distraught they were at losing one of their loved ones. I know it were Tracy but at the time I thought it were my fault and I felt so guilty because I know what it's like to grieve. I loved both of your brothers and when I lost them, it were like there was a massive hole inside me where they should have been. My entire world was turned upside down twice over so I know how they feel. And I don't know, just watching them grieve, and thinking it were all down to me, it made me think about losing Liam and Paul... And losing my baby" Carla's voice was now barely a whisper.

"And then it were like once I'd started I couldn't stop. Even when I found out it were Tracy the memories didn't go away. It were too late. Everything I've done, everything I've lost. All the regrets I have just keep coming back and it's like all my memories are haunting me. And when I remember all those times, all the feelings that I felt then, I feel them now. It's like I'm back there again and it's like I've lost control. I can't control what I think about anymore and I just end up getting lost inside me own head and there's nothing I can do to make it stop." Carla looked at Michelle again.

This time her gaze wasn't empty, it was full of sadness and pain. Michelle wasn't sure which was worse.

"If I drink it makes it worse, if I work I make a mess of everything because I can't concentrate, there is nothing I can do to make myself forget. Even when I'm asleep, I still can't escape. I'm not having nightmares as such, well I am but it's not like I relive something and then end up waking up shaking in a cold sweat. It's just my thoughts getting louder and louder in my head until they overtake everything and it always comes down to the same thing. It always ends with me on me own because everyone I love leaves me. Even my little girl left before I even got a chance to show her how much I loved her."

"You've still got me" Michelle said quietly "I love you like a sister Carla and nothing you do will ever change that. And what about Nick eh? You've got him."

"Yeah and I've also got Tracy who hated me enough to try and kill me and a street full of people who look at me with nothing but pity because they see me as a victim or contempt because they see a down-trodden witch who got everything that was coming to her" Carla snapped back.

"Carla that's not true" Michelle said, close to tears now herself.

"No it is true Michelle and you know what? I'm fine with that because I deserve it. Everything I do hurts people and then I get hurt back but that's what I deserve. People leave me because I deserve to be punished. I am no use to anyone, Amy nearly burned to death in my care, my own baby opted out because I wasn't fit to be her mum. I destroy people, I ruin their lives. Maybe I did drive Tony to do what he did, maybe I did drive Frank to do what he did. I don't deserve pity for what happened with the fire, I shopped my own brother to the police and ruined Tracy's life it's no wonder she hates me. It's my fault Rob is in prison and they both hate me. The truth is I drove Tracy to do what she did so maybe they've all been right all along. Maybe it is my fault Kal and Maddie are dead.

There was a stunned silence. Michelle stared at Carla in horror at the thought of her blaming everything on herself.

"Carla, you don't really think that" Michelle started.

"Oh don't I?" Carla snapped back.

"Carla you do realise this is ridiculous. You know that Tony did what he did because he was a psychotic control freak. It wasn't your fault you fell in love with him and it wasn't your fault he killed Liam. Liam loved you just as much as you loved him but neither of you are to blame." Michelle said, now desperate to make Carla see that none of this was her fault.

"I made the first move I chased him just like I chased Peter and both times at least one person ended up dead." Carla said, her voice low and full of self-hatred.

"Oh for God's sake Carla" Michelle cried "you didn't know what Tony was going to do, none of us did. You didn't make Peter have an affair, you didn't make Rob kill Tina, you didn't make Tracy start that fire and you definitely didn't make Frank rape you."

There was another silence. Carla knew Michelle was right. She knew none of this was really her fault but it didn't change the way she felt.

"Then why do I feel like I'm responsible?" Carla asked "Why do I feel like this if I'm not to blame?"

"Because you've been through so much darlin" Michelle replied taking Carla's hand "and you've got it into your head that you deserve to be punished so you look for a way of blaming everything on yourself but you don't deserve to be punished. You haven't deserved to be put through any of the terrible things that have happened to you and I promise you, none of it is your fault. I promise you, however bad things may seem you will get through this."

"How?" Carla asked, once more seeming like a frightened child.

"I don't know Darlin" Michelle admitted "only you can know that. But I can tell you one thing: I will always be here for you and I will help you as much as I can because you are the strongest person I know and I can't bear to see you hurt."

Carla looked Michelle in the eye and nodded shakily as a tear ran down her cheek. Slowly, the corners of her mouth turned up into a tentative but relieved smile.

Michelle returned her smile with an encouraging one of her own and pulled Carla into a tight hug.

They stayed there is each other's arms both feeling relieved to have their best friend back until they were interrupted by the living room door opening with a bang.

"Oh, um sorry, have I interrupted something?" Steve stuttered, feeling extremely awkward.

Carla gave Steve a weak smile but Michelle frowned at him knowing something was up.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well it can wait" Steve said, still feeling guilty for interrupting the moment between the two best friends.

"Steve you're here now you may as well spit it out" Michelle pointed out.

"I just came to let you know that we're having our Amy tomorrow because Tracy's going to the hospital to see Simon."

"Simon's in hospital?" Carla asked panicking. Her and Simon had actually become quite close since he told her about Tracy starting the fire.

"Yeah, him and Leanne have been in a car crash. I don't really know what's happening but it sounds really bad" Steve replied, almost taken aback by Carla's interest.

Carla sighed as something clicked into place in her brain "so that's why Peter's back" she said out loud.

"Peter's back?" Michelle exclaimed.

"Yeah I saw him on my way out of the factory talking to Tracy outside number 1 and then his cab nearly ran me over when I were on me way here but he doesn't know I saw him" Carla replied.

"Why was he in a cab again after speaking to Tracy?" Michelle asked, struggling to keep up.

"He must've been going to see Simon in hospital. I hadn't really thought about that until now because I was still in shock but it all makes sense." Carla said. "That was what I was coming to talk to you about but..."

"We got a bit side-tracked" Michelle finished.

"Right well I'm going to the hospital" Carla said getting up.

"Carla, are you sure that's a good idea?" Michelle asked nervously "Peter will be there".

"I'm going to see Simon and that's final. Anyway, I'll have to see Peter at some point" Carla replied briskly. "Michelle I'll be fine" Carla continued seeing Michelle still looked doubtful "it's Simon I'm worried about and if it's as bad as Steve says it is, I need to see him before it's too late".


End file.
